1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus and method in which PDL image information (hereinafter referred to as xe2x80x9cPDL dataxe2x80x9d) described in a page description language is received, in which the PDL data is processed by the image processing apparatus, and in which an image is formed in an image forming apparatus, etc., and relates also to a storage medium for storing a computer-readable program.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, a system has been proposed in which PDL data is received from a host computer via a network, the PDL data is converted into print data (hereinafter referred to as xe2x80x9cimage developmentxe2x80x9d) inside an image processing apparatus, and the data is sent to a high-quality color copier, whereby it is printed on various recording media, such as paper, an OHP sheet, etc.
Also, recently, as image development means, an image processing apparatus in which both a PostScript interpreter and a PCL (Hewlett-Packard""s Printer Control Language) interpreter are installed, and the interpreters are switched to perform image development in accordance with PDL data sent from a host computer, has already been manufactured.
However, in the above-described conventional example, there is a need to preinstall, in a host computer, printer drivers for creating each set of PDL data, and the drivers must be selected to perform printing in the host computer, depending on the application.
For this reason, when a particular driver is selected and printing is performed, only the interpreter corresponding to the selected driver can be used. Thus, even if both interpreters for PostScript and PCL are installed, the current state is that one or the other of the interpreters is used in practice, and not both.
The features of these two interpreters are as follows. The PostScript interpreter is an interpreter installed in almost every printer (to such a degree that it is called the industry standard in the printer field), and color rendering dictionaries are common, and the image development of color PDL data is highly rated. The PCL interpreter, on the other hand, boasts a market share such that it is called the industry standard in the monochrome printer field, and is advantageous in the processing performance of monochrome PDL data.
The present invention has been achieved in view of such circumstances. An object of the present invention is to effectively use PDL data development means in order to efficiently output a high-quality image.
To achieve the above-mentioned object, according to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image processing apparatus comprising: a receiving unit for receiving image information, based on first and second page description languages, which is input from an external data processing apparatus; a determination unit, or image-type discriminator, for determining which one of color image information and monochrome image information the image information received by the receiving unit is; a first development unit, which analyzes the color image information determined by the determination unit and develops it into color image data for each pixel; a second development unit, which analyzes the monochrome image information determined by the determination unit and develops it into monochrome image data for each pixel; a merging unit for merging the color image data and the monochrome image data developed respectively by the first and second development units in a page sequence; a storage unit for storing the output image data merged by the merging unit; and an output unit for outputting the output image data stored by the storage unit to an external image output apparatus.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image processing method comprising: receiving image information, based on first and second page description languages, which is input from an external data processing apparatus; determining which one of color image information and monochrome image information the image information received in the receiving step is; developing the color image information determined in the determining step into color image data for each pixel; developing the monochrome image information determined in the determining step into monochrome image data for each pixel; a merging step for merging the color image data and the monochrome image data developed in the developing steps in a page sequence; storing the output image data merged in the merging step in a storage apparatus; and outputting the output image data stored in the storage apparatus to an external image output apparatus.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a storage medium storing a computer-readable program comprising code for: receiving image information, based on first and second page description languages, which is input from an external data processing apparatus; determining which one of color image information and monochrome image information the image information received in the receiving step is; developing the color image information determined in the determining step into color image data for each pixel; developing the monochrome image information determined in the determining step into monochrome image data for each pixel; merging the color image data and the monochrome image data developed in the developing steps in a page sequence; storing the output image data merged in the merging step in a storage apparatus; and outputting the output image data stored in the storage apparatus to an external image output apparatus.
The above and further objects, aspects and novel features of the invention will become more fully apparent from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.